Owner of Rosario's challenges sale of Texas Highway Patrol Museum

By John Tedesco :
December 20, 2012
: Updated: December 21, 2012 11:24am

Rosario's restaurant owner Lisa Wong stands across the street from the old Texas Highway Patrol Museum Thursday December 20, 2012. Wong plans to file a court motion in Travis County to request a hearing about the sale of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum property.

Photo By Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News

Doors remained closed at the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on South Alamo on August 28, 2012.

Photo By Harry Thomas

Texas Highway Patrol museum

Photo By Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News

Doors remained closed at the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on South Alamo on August 28, 2012.

Photo By Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News

Doors remained closed at the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on South Alamo on August 28, 2012.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/Kin Man Hui/kmhui@express-news.net

Images of the Texas Highway Patrol Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011. A portion of the museum is dedicated to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Les Strawn who was a founding member of the museum's Board of Directors.

Photo By File photo/San Antonio Express-News

An exhibit at the rarely visited Texas Highway Patrol Museum south of downtown.

Wong said she's interested in buying the museum site, which was shut down last December when the Texas attorney general's office sued the nonprofit owner.

The attorney general accused the charity of duping donors and seized its assets.

Now the property is for sale and the net proceeds are supposed to aid the families of fallen DPS troopers. Wong offered to buy the 1-acre property across the street from her restaurant for $1.69 million —$1,500 more than the asking price of $1,688,500.

As far as Wong can tell, that's the highest offer for the museum. But she complains the sale hasn't been a transparent process and her offer has been ignored by Karl Johnson, an Austin lawyer who was appointed by Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman to sell the museum and other assets.

“We just want a fair shake,” Wong said Thursday in an interview at her bustling restaurant.

She complained Johnson has been difficult to get in touch with, made no counteroffers, and appears to be ready to sell the property for less money than her offer of $1.69 million.

Reached by phone Thursday, Johnson declined to comment, saying the disagreement needs to be resolved by the court system.

Wong's motion, filed in Travis County where the attorney general's lawsuit was handled, requests a court hearing about the sale, and argues that a judge, not Johnson, ultimately must approve the sale.

Noting that the ultimate beneficiaries of the sale are orphans and widows of fallen DPS troopers, the motion argues that Johnson's duty is to “aid the court in protecting their interests — which means maximizing the sales price of the property.”

Wong's lawyer, Frank Burney, said that when he finally got Johnson on the phone earlier this month, Johnson told him he was planning on selling the property to real estate buyer Paul Covey, who offered $1.6 million, less than Wong's offer.

Covey declined to confirm the details of his offer or any conditions he attached to it. But he called Wong's complaints “bogus.”

“I know that my offer was obviously better than hers,” Covey said, adding that he was preparing to close on the property “in the next couple days.”

“I own hundreds of properties, literally, and I'm not sure how much she owns,” said Covey, who questioned Wong's experience in real estate and how the process works. He noted the old brick building probably has a slew of problems.

“If she bought that property, she'd be like a dog that caught a car,” Covey said. “This is what we do for a living. But that property has a whole host of issues.”

Wong dismissed Covey's claims about her lack of experience, noting she rehabbed Rosario's.

“I came in here and gutted it out and started from fresh,” she said. “That's just part of the business.”

Wong said she sent financial proof to Johnson that she can buy the museum property, and noted she recently paid $1.47 million in cash for the old Maggie's Restaurant building on San Pedro Avenue, which was auctioned by the federal government.

She insists she didn't attach any conditions to her offer for the museum that would have been a deal killer.

Wong leases the current location of Rosario's, and she wants to buy the museum to relocate the restaurant and own the building outright. The museum's parcel currently is zoned for businesses that don't sell alcohol.

The charity that ran the Texas Highway Patrol Museum owned the one-story building and a nearby building leased by Loomis Armored Car Co.

Wong said she would use both spaces for a restaurant.

Covey said he would use the space for a collection of upscale shops, but added it was too early to get into details.